
Application acceleration is a set of technologies, techniques, and services used to improve the delivery of dynamic content such as that generated by Web applications. Just as content delivery networks speed content delivery through the use of dedicated global networks optimized for the task, application acceleration does the same but for dynamic and streaming content.
Techniques used to accelerate the delivery of dynamic content include compression, caching, data deduplication, and protocol spoofing which combines chatty protocols into a single, protocol. Network monitoring and time of day routing are also commonly used.
Dedicated global networks with POP servers strategically located in countries around the world connect users to local servers which dramatically reduces the time it takes for client computers to communicate back and forth with servers. Such a system can speed webpage displays by up to 10 times as well as lower bandwidth consumption.
One of the goals of application performance is to reduce and shorten the amount of time it takes to send and receive requests between sender and receiver (Source: Application Performance by Aryaka). The further away clients and servers are located from each other, the longer it takes to deliver this information. Long distances mean long delays. In addition, the process involves many hops through various routers, switches and network appliances which affects latency. As a result of long distances, delays and sluggish performance are common. Other factors that can adversely affect WAN optimization include “chatty” protocols, excessive network traffic, and large file transfers.
By locating POP servers around the globe and caching frequently accessed data or copies of large requests locally, it becomes possible to deliver dynamic content more efficiently and with less bandwidth.


